Jordan Kobritz

Articles matching tag: Baseball History

It’s the time of year when 10-year members of the Baseball Writers Association of America – some 600 at last count - elect former players to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ballots are due by December 27 and the results will be announced on January 6. Unfortunately, the Hall’s rules limit the number of worthy candidates that get elected every year.
The voting rules are both simple and complex. Candidates must receive 75% of the votes cast to gain election. Beginning this year, players will remain on the ballot for ten years, down from fifteen in prior years. However, any player receiving less than 5% of the vote falls off the ballot. Players who aren’t elected by the baseball writers may be considered by the 16-member veterans committee. Writers are allowed to vote for a maximum of ten candidates. That’s the simple part.

Several websites have recently come up with a list of the twenty-five most important people in baseball history. I’ve decided to compile my own list but in the interest of space, I’m limiting myself to the top six, which complicates matters exponentially.
Among the candidates are the more than 18,000 players and hundreds of managers and executives who worked in baseball. Also considered were outsiders who had an impact on the game, like union leader Marvin Miller and Dr. Frank Jobe, the surgeon who pioneered the operation known as Tommy John surgery after the first – and most famous - patient.